On Wed, 29 Jan 2014 16:53:54 -0700, Dan Marotta wrote:

At Moriarty, NM, we always see power pilots flying what we charitably
call "bomber patterns" (circuits for you Limeys). When I fly the tow
plane, I'm always within gliding distance of the runway - there's just
no reason to be that far away unless you're trying to build flight time.
Plus, those big patterns really disrupt glider flying.

I think the most elegant solution to that problem I've seen was the
concentric traffic arrangement used at Boulder Municipal. The GA pilots
used their regular large pattern. Gliders entered the circuit from the
south over the airport buildings and flew a smaller pattern inside the
GA people, landing on a second parallel runway north of the main (GA)
one, while the tugs flew a similar pattern to gliders, but smaller and
inside them, landing on a narrow runway between the other two. It worked
well and showed no apparent traffic conflicts. That was in 2001, but I
assume the patterns are still the same, though as of last year (Google
Earth imagery from Oct 2013) the middle runway looks like it hasn't been
used for a long time.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
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